Always With You & A Valentine's Day Surprise
by Dreamchylde
Summary: TWO Valentine's Day stories in ONE! One by me and one by a special guest writer: Moonpiper! Mega-cute Jazz and Rachel fluff in both! Rate and Review for us!


**A/N:** _I have procured TWO Jazz and Rachel stories. One is by yours truly, the other is by Moonpiper who has been sending me stories using my version of Jazz and my OC Rachel. Both are cute and fluffy. Moonpiper's is very fluffy. I have to torture Rachel in mine first_ –evil grin- _There are a few references to my other stories in both. If you are curious to who Rachel is, I have a bio of her on my profile page. If you like what you're reading, there are five other stories with Rachel and Jazz to check out. The 'torture' for Rachel is based on IRL events where I was the victim._

As always constructive criticism is welcomed, reviews given much love and don't forget to send Moonpiper a PM about her story too!

**Always With You, Always With Me**

By Dreamchylde

I stumbled bleary-eyed into the lounge with a wide yawn. I was dragged out of bed and pleasant dreams of a certain mech by the annoying claxon on the alarm clock reminding me that I had to get up for an early shift. No one had made coffee, which meant that Spike and Carly weren't here yet – or they had been smart enough to keep as far away from the Ark as possible today. I muttered to myself as I made coffee, wondering if I could call in sick and crawl back into my dreams. But I knew that wouldn't work, as a certain grouchy medic would demand I go to the med bay to get checked out; he would figure out all too quickly that I was faking it and I'd still end up having to work.

I watched the hypnotizing drip of the coffee maker and the pleasant smell of fresh coffee wafted around me. Those commercials that preached about how the smell of their product was enough to wake you up was such a big lie. But two cups of the warm liquid should at least help me get through the morning. The rest of the day was going to be a challenge, but I would tackle the rest later. Yes, it was that time of the month that I dreaded…

Inventory day.

This wasn't like the busywork weekly inventory. Nooooo, this was the Ark-wide inventory day. Everything little thing had to be counted and recounted and then submitted to Prowl, who would then check the inventory with the previous month's inventory along with the weekly inventories for any discrepancies and when he found them - and he always found them - the items had to be recounted under his watchful gaze. At least under Prowl's care it wasn't as bad as it could be… Red Alert would demand that the _entire room_ be recounted for _safety reasons_. Because who knew what was hidden in some of the storage areas by certain troublesome mechs: meaning the Twins.

Grumpy mechs were filtering into the lounge and getting their morning energon before shuffling over to the large list hung on the wall detailing who was to be under which taskmaster and what their punishment was for today. Groans, muttered curses and a cheerless ambiance filled the lounge while I stared into my cup of coffee. I felt no pity for any of them. The mechs had it easy. They only worked for a shift -two if there was a discrepancy.

I had to work all stinking day.

Morning was with Ratchet in the med bay and usually the Twins, because under the grumpy medic's care they would behave. Afternoons were with Wheeljack in his laboratory and storage areas. Ratchet would be there as well to help because Prowl didn't trust anyone else to work in there.

"Inventory group A will report to the weapon storage lockers with Optimus Prime," Prowl stood in the doorway to the lounge and started the grumpy and unwilling groups of mechs on their day of torture. "Group B will report to the security lockers with Red Alert. Group C will follow me to storage units on Epsilon deck. Group D will report to Ratchet in the medical bay." Muttering and shuffling mechs filed slowly out of the lounge past Prowl and his duty roster.

I held onto my cup of coffee letting the warm liquid take the chill out of my soon to be abused fingers. Maybe if I ran for the entrance I could slip away and get out of inventory…

"I believe you're in Group D, Rachel. You need to report to Ratchet."

I lifted my head enough to peer at Prowl tapping on his data pad. "I know."

"Shifts are starting now and you need to report along with the rest of Group D."

I gave the black and silver mech a cold look, "Last time I checked, the med bay was in a fixed position inside the Ark and not in immediate danger of falling into oblivion if I don't report right this instant. Ratchet can do without me until I finish my coffee."

There were a handful of sniggers from the few mechs that were leaving the lounge and I got the 'I'm not amused' parental look, "Rachel…"

Prowl's karma wore out right then as one very grouchy medic pushed his less than gentle way into the lounge and headed straight to the energon dispenser.

"Morning, Ratchet!" An overly bubbly red warrior and his snickering brother greeted the CMO only to get a grumpy snarl.

I hid my tired smile behind another sip of coffee, "What are we starting on first, boss?"

I received a scowled mutter as the medic downed his first cube of energon and started to pour himself a second. I followed suit and poured myself another cup of coffee. Ratchet looked over the list and groaned before turning around and glaring at the Tactician, "Primus help you the next time your battle computer freezes up, Prowl." Our two helpers for the day snickered until Ratchet gave them a withering glare, "And you two better not try any stunts today. I'm not in the mood for any of your slag."

The grouchy medic received two smirking salutes that he promptly ignored and turned to me, "Ready, Rachel."

I rolled my shoulders and reached up to stretch to get some of the stiffness out; might as well try to start out feeling somewhat comfortable before I destroyed my back from being hunched over the hundreds of trays and boxes that I would be counting. "No." There was no way that I was going to be ready for today. If there was the prospect of seeing Jazz between my shifts and spending the entire evening with him stargazing and cuddling, it _might_ make the day tolerable. But Jazz wasn't here; he hadn't been here all week and I had no idea when he'd be back. He was out on another one of his sneaky James Bond missions that made me worry for his safety. That alone made any week impossible to handle and it made today a veritable hell.

I lagged behind my three companions as we traveled to the med bay; why run to keep up with their longer strides when our destination involved boring and mindless counting for the next five hours. I let my mind wander on to more pleasant thoughts - namely a certain black and white Porsche with a disarming smile and a voice that could make choirs of angels jealous, that I was missing terribly. He was probably on surveillance somewhere watching the Decepticons try to build another silly weapon to destroy the Autobots with or another futile energon raid that would only earn them a handful of the precious cubes. He was probably bored out of his mind just sitting there and hopefully thinking of me, just like I was thinking of him.

Reality snapped back at me like a taut rubber band: at least he wasn't here being forced to take inventory. Actually, now that I thought about it, in all the time that I'd been at the Ark, I don't remember him ever being here to participate in inventory. "Lucky mech…"

Ratchet was giving the Twin Terrors data pads and instructing them on where to start as I finally made it through the doors of the med bay. I set my coffee down on my desk and went over to Ratchet for my inventory list. "Do you have any of the smaller data pads, Rachel? I couldn't find any last night when I was downloading the lists."

I nodded and plodded back to my desk, "I've got a couple stashed away." I leaned over the desk and grabbed the drawer handle, and was surprised to find the usually easy to open drawer stuck. I pulled on it again to no avail. I walked around to my chair and grumbled about how this was not a good sign if this was going to be the start of my day, and yanked on the drawer. This time it came free with a bang and I yelped as the contents exploded in my face.

Heavy footsteps crossed the med bay instantly. "Rachel! Are you okay?"

I blinked several times trying to figure what had just happened and why everything looked pink. I took my glasses off slowly and tried to wipe my face; I was literally covered with little pieces of red, pink and purple tissue paper, glitter and tiny metallic hearts. I attempted to brush it off only to find that the more I moved the stronger the static held it to me. I blew on my glasses in a vain attempt to remove it… and only succeeded in making the rather large pile on my desk that _wasn't_ stuck to me crackle with static and fasten itself to _everything_ else in the area.

Ratchet leaned down next to my little desk and reached out to touch the mess, which to his surprise jumped the distance between his fingers and the pile in a burst of static, "What is this stuff?"

I tried to wipe my face again, "Confetti."

Ratchet tried to shake the mess from his fingers, "Does filling your desk with confetti have anything to do with the human holiday celebrated today?"

I groaned as I realized what else coincided with today, "Valentines Day." Great. Jazz was gone and I was going to spend Valentines Day alone counting cogs and bolts.

I could tell by the look on his face that he was accessing the internet for information on Valentines Day, "The traditional day on which lovers express their feelings for each other by the exchange of love notes and tokens of their affections. The fourteenth of February became associated with romantic love in the high Middle Ages when the tradition of courtly love flourished, yet it is named after three Christian martyrs who were-"

"Also known as 'Singles Awareness Day', thank you Ratchet. I think we get the gist of what today is." I sighed as I picked some of the confetti out of my hair. The most romantic day of the year and we were apart from each other. "As if today couldn't get any worse…"

There was snickering coming from across the room and I turned to glare at a red and a yellow Lamborghini, "You two wouldn't have had anything to do with this, would you?"

Sunstreaker shook his head still smiling, "I had nothing to do with it."

His twin was a little less convincing, holding his hands defensively in front of him with an identical smirk, "I'm completely innocent this time."

Ratchet was still trying to shake the confetti from his hand, "I find that difficult to believe."

"You wound me so, Ratchet, always assuming that everything is my fault. And why aren't you blaming Jazz? Seems to me that he would be the guilty party here since it is Valentines Day."

I sighed again, "Because he's on another mission this week and isn't back yet. And only three mechs are infamous for things that explode: Wheeljack and you two."

Sideswipe gave me the most innocent look, "Would we really do that to you, Rachel?"

Sunstreaker elbowed the red terror with a smirk, "Sand balls."

"Oooooh, yeah," They both turned and gave me an identical evil look at the same time. "We haven't gotten back at you for that."

I grumbled and gave up on trying to get the stuff off of me. There was so much static behind the confetti that my efforts were beyond futile. I dug through the piles of little paper in the desk drawer and found two data pads - which were now covered in confetti. Leaving a halo of pink and red paper around me, I downloaded the lists from Teletraan 1 and started on the first bin of many that I would have to inventory. Maybe if I focused on something else I could forget that I was spending today alone without Jazz.

An hour in to inventory and a spreading trail of confetti later, I pulled out a bolt bin that felt oddly light. I looked around at Ratchet and the Twins; there were no furtive glances over at me, no indication that they were expecting anything to happen. Other than Ratchet having to threaten the two terrors when they started throwing things or pushing each other, it was a fairly quiet day.

But this bin shouldn't be this light.

I found a piece of scrap wire and stood in front of the bin, debating heavily about opening it. I was supposed to count the contents, but I didn't want to get covered with anything else today; and I was fairly sure Ratchet wouldn't appreciate it if I asked him to open the bin for me and it exploded on him. I stepped away from the lid and pushed it open with my piece of wire, shutting my eyes and cringing for the imminent explosion. The lid fell back, but nothing happened. Opening my eyes slowly, I turned to look at the bin - it seemed harmless enough. I carefully walked over and peeked into it…

"Uh, Ratchet?"

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Uhm...Was there anyone in the med bay earlier, Ratchet?"

"No. Why?"

I reached into the bin and pulled out a handful of its contents, holding them up for the medic.

He walked over to see what I was holding, "What are those?"

I brought my hand down and looked at the multicolored candy, "Candy hearts…" I peered into the bin. "The whole bin is filled with them…"

"What happened to all the bolts?"

I shrugged and picked a yellow heart off the top of the pile of candy - it said 'Be Mine' in pink letters. As a matter of fact, every single heart in the bin said 'Be Mine'. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to sort out candy hearts and fill an entire box that normally held 3½-inch bolts. I looked up at the three mechs who were peeking over my head and into the box. All of them seemed surprised about the candy filled bin…

"Are you sure no one was in here?"

Ratchet groused at me as he picked up the bin and deposited it on my desk, "I think I'd know if someone was in my med bay."

"I guess I have a lot of candy to eat…"

That was the understatement of the day.

In a bin that was supposed to hold 1-¾ inch nuts, I found more candy hearts – these declaring in the same pink letters 'I love you'. This had to be Jazz's doing. He must have made it back from his mission and snuck into the med bay just to set this up. I popped a few of the hearts in my mouth and walked over to my confetti-covered desk where my wireless Teletraan 1 was buried. I tried to wipe the screen off, but the moment I turned it on the confetti flew to it like moths to a flame. I checked the entrance cameras in Red Alert's security video logs, but Jazz hadn't returned to base; the last time the cameras had logged him was when he left the base over a week ago.

"Hey, Ratchet?"

The medic gave me a weary look.

I cringed slightly under his gaze. Two entire bins of missing parts meant extra time in the med bay trying to find where they were stashed, "Uhm, we need to look for 1-¾ inch nuts along with the bolts."

----

I walked into the lounge for lunch wondering just what I was going to do with at least six pounds of candy hearts, when I noticed I had drawn more than a few stares. I took just one look at my sweater to remind me of my close encounters of the confetti kind. I sighed and walked over to the fridge, pulling out stuff to make me a sandwich.

Bluestreak came over to me obviously concerned over the trail of paper and glitter I was shedding all over the Ark, "Rachel? What is-"

"Confetti. Someone rigged my desk to explode with this stuff. I'd stay back if I were you - it loves static electricity. Ratchet is still trying to get it off his hands."

"Oh, well, I have something I wanted to give you, because you know it's Valentines Day and all and I thought you would like it because you're supposed to show people you like how much you appreciate them and… well I made this for you." The blue Ferrari held a card between his fingers.

I smiled at him and took the card, "Aww, thanks Blue. You didn't have to do this."

He grinned bashfully and scratched the back of his helmet as I opened the card that was the same color blue as his body armor. Inside was a picture of the young gunner and I snowboarding down the slopes of Mount Shasta. I giggled at the picture until I read the elegant script underneath it: _You're the best friend a 'bot can have._

My jaw dropped, "Oh, Blue… this is so sweet." I went up to him and hugged his leg tightly. Forget about the confetti.

"You like it?"

"I love it. Thank you, Blue."

----

My footsteps were lighter after lunch than they had been at the start of today. Bluestreak's card was a wonderful surprise that didn't explode in my face. And the bins with the candy hearts were a creative and sweet touch, but I still didn't know who was the culprit. I had checked the video logs again to see if Jazz was back, but there was no return log for him.

Wheeljack met me at the doors to his lab with data pads in hand, "You're very sparkly today, Rachel. Is this for a special occasion?"

I held my hand out for my inventory list, "Dunno. How good are you at rigging exploding desks?"

His vocal processors flashed as he laughed, "Never on purpose, but there is a first for everything."

I spread my hands out in front of me dramatically, "You're looking at the results."

"Ah, so the Twins got you."

"Unless you really were experimenting with exploding desks, then yes."

"And Sideswipe swore on Sunstreaker's paint job that they were innocent of filling the bins with candy hearts." Ratchet joined us outside the lab with another stack of data pads.

"Any luck in finding the missing parts?" I flinched as I waited for the answer.

The grumpy medic frowned, "Not yet. But as soon as I find out who did it they're going to wish they'd never been sparked."

"I'm sorry, Ratchet. After we're done in here I'll go back to the med bay and look for them."

He raised an optic ridge at me, "You're been working since 0600 and I know how much you love Inventory day, Rachel."

"Yeah, but I'm fairly certain that the candy hearts weren't placed there for Sunny to find."

Wheeljack laughed again, "Then we better get cracking on inventory. Oh, and don't worry about the gear on the tables… or the stuff on the shelves under them… or… well, lets just leave the areas around the tables be."

Two hours of counting cogs and polarizing coils later, the confetti caper didn't seem _that_ bad. Actually, it was kind of funny now and I wondered exactly how I looked covered in pink, red and purple paper and glitter.

Ratchet and Wheeljack were in a deep conversation about the newest tech specs of mass displacement programming that was downloaded from the Iacon Science Academy while I worked on a set of drawers that held extra chip sets for Teletraan 1. Thinking it would be easier on my back to start at the bottom and work my way up, I opened the lowest drawer and found it full of frilly red and white hearts with my name on them. I stood there and just stared into the drawer at the mountain of paper hearts. Jazz had to be behind this.

I walked away from the drawers, past the conversing mechs and over to the Teletraan 1 console. For the third time today, I accessed the video logs… and for the third time today it still read that he hadn't returned from his mission. I shut my eyes and rubbed my temples. It had to be him. Some how Jazz was sneaking around the Ark and setting all of this up without leaving any evidence of him being here. Some how he was getting around all of Red Alert's triple redundant security systems and sneaking around the base… Some how…

"Something wrong, Rachel?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at my two afternoon inventory comrades. Some how… My gaze fell on the now glaringly obvious constant from every incident today. "You!"

The two mechs looked at each other in confusion.

"You!" I glared and shook my finger at the culprit. "You lying piece of scrap! You helped set all of this up, mister 'I'd know if someone was in my med bay'."

Ratchet put his hands on his hips and gave me a level look, "All of what?"

I waved my hand back at the drawers, "That! And the candy and the exploding confetti! The only person who knew I'd be counting those bins was you. You're the constant between the med bay and here!"

Wheeljack had walked past me and was now poking around in the open drawer, "Paper hearts?"

"Yes, paper hearts. He's here, isn't he, Ratchet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel."

"You let him mess around in the med bay to set all this up?"

"I let no one mess around in MY med bay. Ever."

I shook my finger at him again, "You're full of it. You know something about all of this. I know you do."

Wheeljack brought over a heaping handful of the paper hearts, "Isn't stuff like this supposed to happen today? It is Valentines Days."

"But Jazz is supposed to be out on a mission. And Ratchet knows something about it!"

His vocal processors flashed as he chuckled, "You're starting to sound a little like Red. Maybe some of the others wanted to cheer you up since Jazz is gone."

I looked up at the engineer, "And whom did you allow into the lab to fill a drawer with paper hearts?"

His optics narrowed slightly, "I think we need to check the video logs."

All three of us stood in front of Teletraan 1's screen and watched the past forty-eight hours worth of video on fast forward. Everything looked normal with Wheeljack puttering back and forth around the lab including a handful of visits from Ratchet and Prowl, until 2300 the night before. Everything in the lab went completely black; there wasn't even a faint glow from Teletraan 1's monitor. The black out lasted five silent minutes before the lights came back on and the lab was empty.

I turned to look at the grumpy medic and the engineer with a smirk, "Sooooo, if no one knows anything about the candy and confetti ,then who's going to tell Red Alert that someone has been sneaking around the Ark and messing with his precious cameras?"

----

It was just after five pm when I finally dragged my way out of the lab. There were no more surprises for the rest of the afternoon, though I kept a careful watch on Wheeljack and Ratchet. The engineer had found a bag for me to tote my 'valentines' back to my room, and I was so looking forward to a nice hot confetti-free shower. For a usually painful and boring Inventory day, today was the exception. And though I was glad it was over, I couldn't help but feel depressed knowing that I had spent Valentines Day without Jazz.

I wondered if Sideswipe had some new DVD's that he'd let me borrow for the night as I opened the door to my room, but I stopped at the threshold as my mind snapped back into focus. Everything else was based on some element of surprise today… please, please, please. Not the room. Anything but the room. They could fill my desk with Jello, put spiders in my lab coat pockets… Anything. But not my room.

I carefully reached inside and flipped on the light. Everything _looked_ normal so far. I stuck my head inside and peeked – my bed was made just as I left it, carpet was clean, furniture looked to be in order, closet… would need to be checked. I cautiously stepped inside. No surprises so far. I glanced up at the ceiling… nothing up there. I set my bag of 'valentines' on the table and walked over to the closet. I grabbed the handle and took a deep breath. Worst comes to worse, I had my evening free to do laundry. I yanked the door open and flinched expecting something to come flying out at me, but it was empty. My clothes were fine.

I sighed in relief and kicked off my shoes. Shower time.

----

A long and very hot shower later, I felt so much better. Not as good as I'd feel if Jazz was here and we were going out to gaze at the stars, but better nonetheless. I had thought about him all day, constantly checking if he was back – especially with each new surprise. Maybe the others did set it all up to make me feel better…

Yet, I couldn't help wishing that he would walk in with that spring in his step and that smile that could melt ice… Wishing that he would be leaning against the doorway to the lab, waiting to catch me off guard… Wishing that I could rest my head on his chest and listen to his perfect spark rhythm that I swore beat in time with my heart.

I frowned as I dried my hair. But he wasn't_here_. He was out _there_ somewhere, watching Decepticons do who knows what. That was his job, watch and pester the Decepticons. For all I knew, he could be in trouble. He could be hurt and unable to signal the Ark. And I'd give anything just to know that he was all right wherever he was and headed home soon.

I walked out of the bathroom in search of my shoes. The floors in the hallways were very cold to bare feet and if I was going to borrow a movie from the Twins I'd have a decent amount of hallway to traverse. Finding one over by the closet, I bent down and picked it up… and noticed there was a black velvet box sitting on my bed. I sat on my bed and looked at the box. It seemed innocuous – how many explosives came in fancy black velvet boxes? I picked it up slowly and gave it a tiny shake. There was definitely something in there, but I couldn't discern what it was by the shake. It had some weight behind it, but so could a pound of confetti and other nefarious things.

I pushed a stray lock behind my ear – only one way to find out what was in it. Very carefully I opened the box, its hinges making dull clicks from lack of use. Inside was a note card that I flipped open…

_You know where I am._

My heart leapt in my chest. Does that mean he is back?!

Something else fell out of the box, drawing my attention away from the note. A silver herring-bone chain swung gently from one corner of the black velvet box. I gently pulled the chain out of the box; it was feather light until I came to the end of the chain and I gasped as I pulled free a beautiful amethyst pendant. It sparkled in the light of my room, catching the light like a purple prism. I stared at it for a moment before jumping off my bed and running to the mirror. I unhooked the clasp and slipped the chain around my neck, tossing my hair out of the way and refastening the chain. I admired it in the mirror turning back and forth and giggling.

There was just one teensy problem.

It didn't go with the jeans and tee shirt I was wearing. I squealed and dove for the closet. I was going to go find him, but not dressed like this. In less than ten minutes I was back in front of the mirror smoothing out my red dress and actually putting on mascara. The amethyst pendant hung around my neck, swinging gently with every movement as I tried to get my hair to behave somewhat. I gave up and tossed the box that held my barrettes on my bed, sorting through them as fast as I could, trying to find a matching pair. The black velvet box toppled over and a glittering from inside caught my frantic eyes. Inside the indentation where the pendant had been was a hairclip with three matching amethysts. I reverently took it from the box and turned back around to the mirror. I pulled my hair up, twisted it back and caught it with the clip. I gave myself a once over glance, grabbed my strappy black heels and darted out the door.

I hitched my dress up to my knees and ran down the orange titanium hallways, giggling and waving to the startled mechs that I passed. I darted past the lounge only to hear my name called. I headed back to the doorway with a grin, smoothing out my dress again with one hand and my shoes in the other, "Hi!"

Wheeljack and Ratchet were sitting at a table drinking, the grumpy medic had a knowing grin on his face, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I'm going out."

"Oh? Where?" He took a long drink of his energon trying to hide a smirk.

A red and a yellow Lamborghini pulled up chairs to Ratchet and Wheeljack's table, identical evil grins on their face plates, "You look nice, Rachel. Red is really your color."

I blushed as the yellow warrior socked his twin in the arm. "So where are you going, Angel?"

"Just going out."

The Twins leaned on the table, "Out where?" "With who?"

I grinned and cleared my throat, "If I told y', I'd have t' kill y'."

They shared knowing smirks and laughed.

"Thank you, guys. I really appreciated it."

Ratchet took another drink from his cube, "I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel."

I stuck my tongue out at him and turned to go, "Goodnight, and don't wait up!"

"Don't forget you've got the morning shift!" The grouchy medic called down the hallway.

"Yes, boss!"

----

They laughed as they watched the happy young woman dart out of the doorway. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker gave each other and Wheeljack a high-five, "So where's our share of the high-grade that Jazz promised?"

Ratchet grinned wickedly at them, "Where did you put the nuts and bolts?"

"They're in our room."

"Well your share is in my office."

Sideswipe stood up from the table, "Lets break it out!"

"Not so fast," The grouchy medic's grin took an evil turn. "There is a slight problem with your share."

Sunstreaker crossed his arms over his chest plate, "What problem?"

"There is confetti all over MY med bay."

Wheeljack laughed, his vocal processors flashing almost white, "Yeah, you were only supposed to fill her desk, not make it blow up in her face."

Sideswipe shrugged it off, "Details, details."

Ratchet stood up to get himself another energon cube, "Speaking of detailing, there are brooms by the doors. If you want to see your shares you better have all of that stuff gone, and not just swept under the shelving units."

----

I held on to the side of the Ark's entrance and slipped my shoes on before darting down the road. I knew exactly where he was, and I headed straight for the place.

I stopped short of our star gazing spot and smoothed my dress, fixed my pendant and checked my hair with my hands. There was a soft flickering light and I could hear music playing as I crept to the edge of the clearing. Jazz was sitting with his back to me, his fingers idly drumming on his knee to the song 'Hypnotized'. The light from the candles he had set up around the clearing flickered over his glossy black and white body giving him an ethereal look.

"Hello, stranger."

He turned around and flashed that disarming smile of his, "Well, hello there lil'lady."

I stepped carefully into the clearing and he stood up and offered me his hand, leading me over to the blanket he had spread over the grass. "Y' look wonderful."

I blushed and squeezed his fingers, "You look very handsome tonight."

"Jus' a trick of the light."

The middle of the clearing literally glowed from the candles and the air was thick with the smell of roses. He helped me sit down and I found the source of the roses – he had covered the entire blanket with rose petals. I giggled nervously.

"Somethin' wrong, Rach?"

"No. Nothing is wrong. It's perfect," I looked up into his visor. "I just – I worry about you. I missed you, Jazz."

"I missed y' t', Rach."

I lifted the pendant up to the light and touched his arm, "And they're beautiful. Thank you."

"I thought y'd like them," His grin took on a mischievous twist. "I brought somethin' else t'."

"You went all out for this, didn't you?"

"Only the best for my Rach." I heard his subspace pocket opening and he procured a bottle of champagne and a golden energon cube.

I laughed and pointed to the bottle, "You know I get tipsy on that."

He grinned and started to pour me a glass of the bubbly liquid, "I remember. Y' kissed me and said y' 'really, really, really liked the Jazzy-man'."

I felt my cheek flush as he handed me the glass, "So you're hoping I'll divulge something else if you get me tipsy again?"

That disarming smile flashed in the candlelight as he held up the golden energon cube, "Maybe."

I reached up and touched my glass with his cube, "Like what?"

He took a sip from the cube and pretended to be thinking, "Hmmm, like y'll stay wit' me forever?"

I smiled as I stood up and leaned close to him, and he leaned closer to me. I ran my hand down his cheek and looked deeply into his visor, "I will never, ever leave your side, Jazz. Even when I miss you," I brushed my lips against his. "I will always be with you, just like you will always be with me."

----------------------------------------

**Valentine's Day Surprise**

By Moonpiper

Rachel was in the med bay helping Ratchet and Wheeljack with their current patients who had a run-in with the Decepticons while on a scouting mission. The three mechs were currently in statis and awaiting repairs; Sunsteaker had taken a blow to his chassis resulting in a fracture that would require welding, Hound had a damaged knee joint, and Windcharger had received an EMP pulse which caused some of his subroutines to glitch badly and needed to be rebooted.

While Wheeljack was midway through his work on Hound, Ratchet and Rachel were just finishing up the repairs on Windcharger when the med bay doors hissed open. Rachel looked up and saw Jazz enter with his usual 'there's my girl' smile that she loved. She smiled back, overjoyed to see him back early from his latest mission.

"Hi y' Rach, are y' almost done here?" Jazz asked.

"Just a few minor adjustments and Windcharger should be back online in less then a breem."

"Wheeljack and I can finish up here, Rachel. Go ahead and take the rest of the evening off." Ratchet said, as he turned to Jazz with a grin on his face.

"Thanks, Doc." Jazz responded with a smirk as he picked up Rachel and exited the med bay. Rachel said good night to the medic and the scientist. Rachel noticed that Wheeljack also had a grin equal to the one Ratchet bore. She wondered what was going on with those two.

Jazz headed for Rachel's room, asking her to her wash up and change clothes. "I have a surprise for y', I'll be back in twenty minutes for y'."

Rachel was ready before Jazz appeared, wondering what surprise he had planned for tonight.

"Ready, Rach?" Jazz asked with a sly smile on his face and a twinkle in his face. He held out a long red silk scarf to her.

Rachel took it with a look of confusion on her face, "What is this for?" She asked Jazz, unsure what she was supposed to do with it. By this time they had reached the entrance and Jazz came to a halt.

"It's a blindfold. I want y' t' cover y' eyes with it, and make sure y' can't see anythin'." He replied with a teasing tone of voice.

Still confused, Rachel did as Jazz asked. He reached down and gently picked her up and started walking. She quickly realized he was taking her to their private spot in the woods.

"No peeking now, we're almost there." Jazz said in a singsong voice.

Rachel turned to his voice; pouting, she said "You're being mean, now I'm going to cry," with a smirk in her voice.

Jazz came to a stop and gently set Rachel down with her back to him. "Y' can take y're blindfold off now, Rach."

As she removed the blindfold, Rachel gasped in surprise when she saw was in the clearing. Red and white streamers were draped through the trees and dozens of paper hearts were hung from branches. Some of the hearts had her name on them, Jazz on others, and both their names on the rest. Then Rachel noticed that in the middle of the clearing, stood a crystal vase that held dozens of perfect red roses and a giant heart situated in front saying: Jazz and Rachel, Soulmates and Sparkmates forever.

Rachel looked at him with tears of joy running down her cheeks and a loving smile on her face as she realized that she had forgotten what today was.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Rach." Jazz said with a smile mirroring the one on hers and gently wiped her tears away as he knelt in front of her.

When she had recovered enough, she asked Jazz how he had done all this.

"I asked Carly and Spike t' pick up the streamers and t' pick out three dozen perfect red roses for mah perfect girl. All of the hearts were done by Sunny when the Twins learned of what I had planned for this evenin', and Ratchet and Wheeljack helped wit' puttin' up the decorations and givin' y' the evenin' off."

"I had wondered why the Twins had been giving me looks for the last few days. I was beginning to get nervous, wondering what pranks they were planning to pull. And that Ratchet actually smiled! I knew that something was up."

Rachel walked over to the huge bouquet of bright red roses and basked in the aromatic perfume wafting from the flowers as her eyes roved over the hearts floating all around her.

"So, what did y' think? Do y' like it?" Jazz asked with noticeable worry in his voice.

Rachel expressed her happiness by giving him a hug and a lingering kiss on the cheek. "I love it!" She replied, "but..."

"But...?"

"I don't have anything for you."

"Dance f'r me?"

And joyfully, she did.

-----

I hope you like both stories! Drop Moonpiper a PM saying you loved her cute story!

**FYI:** Only Moonpiper has my permission to use my OC Rachel and my Twisted Alternate Universe. If you want to use any part, please let me know first or credit me for the original idea. Thanks!


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